Amid the debate over whether or not Caitlin Clark was snubbed for the US Olympic basketball team, there has been an undercurrent of negative language toward those who have made the roster.
None of this has been perpetrated by Clark herself, but experts such as Jason Whitlock have blamed her non-inclusion on the “black gay mafia” as well as “angry lesbians.”
It’s comments like those that have led Andscape senior writer David Dennis Jr. to make an observation about the direction the discourse is going.
Appearing on the ESPN game show Around the Horn, Dennis was asked about his opinion on Team USA’s mission statement and used his response to point out his fear that Clark’s absence will be used to attack this template.
‘Yes, (USA Basketball’s) mission is to win gold medals and represent the United States while growing the game. The part about growing the game: you need to win gold medals to do that.
The fact that Caitlin Clark was left off the US Olympic basketball team roster has generated reactions
Andscape’s David Dennis Jr. believes people are using Clark to “attack” “people they despise: mainly the makeup of the WNBA, black women, etc.”
‘For the history of the US women’s basketball team, what they do is put together the roster that puts them best equipped to win gold medals.
“And there have been a lot of players who have been snubbed along the way, Candace Parker being one of those players. And there can be a healthy sports debate about whether Caitlin Clark should be a part of this team.
“And I think she’s not one of the top 15 players available.” Even if (Diana) Taurasi, whoever she is, wasn’t there, there would be a couple of people like Arike (Ogunbowale) who could be put above Caitlin Clark.
‘The problem here, and what worries me in the future, is that those marginal people who exist in real life, not just internet trolls; politicians, pundits, and the like, who are using Caitlin Clark as an avatar to lash out at people they despise: primarily the makeup of the WNBA, black women, and others.
‘And they are using it to go against the United States team. What’s going to happen on Team USA, that’s going to be the big tragedy here, is the way those people are going to treat them when the summer comes.
‘We’re supposed to support the United States and the American teams at the Olympics. “I want to see that for this team, even if Caitlin Clark isn’t on that team.”
It’s not that Clark was left off the list without merit; many believe she simply isn’t good enough at this point to make the cut.
The statistics back it up. Of the seven guards who made the list, all but one are higher on the WNBA scoring list than Clark. The only exception is Chelsea Gray, who is recovering from an injury, but was the third-best assister in the league last season.
A’ja Wilson is one of the players who will represent the United States in the Olympic Games
The only category in which Clark leads the WNBA right now is turnovers, where, with an average of 5.6 turnovers per game, she is on pace to break the league’s single-season record for that dubious brand.
It should also be noted that rookies rarely make the US women’s basketball team due to how deep the roster tends to be. Just Taurasi, Sylvia Fowles, Candace Parker and Breanna Stewart.
Clark may not even be the biggest snub from this year’s Olympic team. That honor would be more fitting for Dallas Wings star Arike Ogunbowale, who has been one of the WNBA’s leading scorers and currently ranks second in the league in points per game at 26.4.
But even with Ogunbowale and Clark off the roster, United States fans should have little to no concern about their ability to win the gold medal at these Paris games.
The United States women’s basketball team has won gold in the last seven Olympic Games and has also won four consecutive FIBA World Cup golds.
There was even one person willing to advocate for seeing a USA basketball team without Caitlin Clark: Caitlin Clark herself.
‘I’m excited for the girls that are on the team. “I know it’s the most competitive team in the world and I know it could have gone either way: being on the team or not,” he said via The Athletic.
‘So, I’m excited for them. I’m going to support them to win gold. I was a kid who grew up watching the Olympics. So yeah, it will be fun to watch.”